Shopkeepers in St. George's say they are struggling to get by with fewer cruise ship visitors, most of whom bypass stores and head straight to the beach.

They insist the Norwegian Majesty's weekly visits do not bring sufficient business, nor do the fast ferries that bring tourists in large numbers.

"Some of them come in their bathing suits and walk straight up to Tobacco Bay," said Jill Amos-Raine, owner of Bermuda Memories.

Astoria Williams, assistant manager at Watermelons, agreed saying: "The ferries could bring 200 people. They all go right up to the beaches, and then right back to the ferry when they're done."

The Norwegian Majesty pays weekly visits to St. George's, arriving Tuesday afternoons and leaving Friday mornings.

The fast ferries were scheduled to run between St. George's and Dockyard when there is a cruise ship in Dockyard to help remedy the lack of cruise ships in the historic town.

Chairman of the East End Division of the Chamber of Commerce, Kirby Brackstone, said he believes restaurants and bars in the area are benefitting from the traffic.

"People are coming here on the ferries and spending the day here. They go to the beach, and they get food, so the restaurants and bars are doing pretty well," said Mr. Brackstone, co-owner of the Perfume Factory.

"It's been a mixed bag on the retail side. For some of us, it's been unexpectedly good, but that's coming off extremely low expectations."

Even with the ferries, Mrs. Amos-Raine said that the town itself is almost completely empty when there is not a cruise ship in port.

"When we have no ships in it's like a ghost town and we're going five months with one ship. It's very hard running a business on five months," she said. "The cost of living here is very high. It's hard to make it worthwhile."

Mr. Brackstone said that business at the Perfumery has been doing well this year, but credited some of the success to advertising heavily on the cruise ships.

"That drives us a lot of business," he said. "We're about even with last year with only one cruise ship, so we're getting a lot more people from Dockyard."

Advertising on the ships is very expensive, so for smaller businesses, it isn't an option, Mrs. Amos-Raine said.

Another reason for falling business, according to Mrs. Williams, is that many tourists are not informed about what there is to do in St. George's. She said the problem was made worse after the St. George's Visitors' Centre was moved to its current location on Water Street.

"I've been here for 12 years, and I've worked with tourists for 33 years. This is the worst I've ever seen it. Nothing's moving."

She continued: "We need people to tell tourists where to go. Put something in the [Town] Square. The Visitors' Centre is way up in the alley, and up some stairs. Handicapped people can't even get there.

"They need to tell people what's here to see and where to go. If we don't, we're going to lose more tourists."

While she believes fewer tourists are finding their way to St. George's, Ms Amos-Raine still believes there is an understanding of all the town has to offer.

"They love St. George's. It has everything they want, and they can walk everywhere from their ship. They want to be down here. It looks like they're escaping to get here as fast as they can."